BT TV complaints double

From July to September 2013, Ofcom received the most complaints about BT TV (formerly BT Vision) at 0.56 complaints per 1,000 subscribers – more than doubling from 0.26 in the previous quarter.

Complaints about BT TV peaked in August 2013, of which almost half were about BT Sport which launched on August 1st 2013. Overall complaints about BT TV were primarily related to service issues and complaints handling.

BT, in a statement, apologised for the poor level of service, suggesting that the main reason for this was the unprecedented volume of interest in BT Sport and the telco’s efforts to provide availability on multiple TV platforms in a very short space of time. “Also, some customers were confused by us initially making BT Sport available free to air on BT TV and then encrypting the channel.”

A BT spokeswomen said that the complaints represented “a fraction of one per cent of those customers,” and that the level had reduced significantly, “back to the levels we saw prior to the BT Sport launch.”

The relative positions of Virgin Media and Sky remained the same as for the previous quarter. Virgin Media’s complaints were below industry average at 0.05 per 1,000 customers, while Sky had the lowest number of complaints – 0.02 per 1,000 customers.

With regard to broadband services, during the third quarter of 2013, Orange/EE generated the most complaints for as a proportion of its customer base, at 0.45 per 1,000 customers – more than double the industry average. Complaints were mainly driven by problems with billing and service faults.

BT was the second most complained about broadband provider, generating above average complaints at 0.41 per 1,000 subscribers. TalkTalk also generated complaints in excess of the industry average, at 0.27 for every 1,000 customers.